myke pocock
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| posted on 8/2/23 at 05:15 PM |
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Freedom of Information Requests
Hoping someone on here has any experience of FOI requests as I know of the vast experience around on the site. . If a FOI request has been made of a
public body, is that body duty bound to publish details of that request? If so, where would any FOI requests be found?
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gremlin1234
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| posted on 8/2/23 at 06:11 PM |
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have a search for 'whatdotheyknow'
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/
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HowardB
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| posted on 8/2/23 at 07:43 PM |
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According to the missus... if they hold the info they have respond to the person/body that raised the FOI. They are not duty bound to publish either
the FOI requests or the responses. That in itself could be an FOI request... some public bodies may use a public facing (like the one suggested above
by Gremlin) tool to manage FOIs then the data is public.
[Edited on 9/2/23 by HowardB]
Howard
Fisher Fury was 2000 Zetec - now a 1600 (it Lives again  and goes zoom)
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myke pocock
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| posted on 8/2/23 at 08:37 PM |
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Thanks HowardB. That appears that they can then be selective over what they publish or not. Wonder who makes that decision? What's the point in
the system then unless the reply is secret but it could be redacted in some form. Cheers.
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gremlin1234
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| posted on 8/2/23 at 10:15 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by myke pocockWhat's the point in the system then unless the reply is secret but it could be redacted in some
form. Cheers.
the system allows for journalists and others to ask the specific questions.
if all requests were published directly, there would be so much 'noise' in the system,
and also might revel journalists enquiries before they are complete.
note a secret or readdicted answer has a lot of 'meta data' to show which information is unavailable.
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BenB
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| posted on 8/2/23 at 10:17 PM |
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There are reasons why the information can be withheld eg if commercially sensitive or already provided (even at a cost).
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perksy
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| posted on 9/2/23 at 07:43 AM |
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To be fair its not the 'open book' that many folks hoped for when it came into fruition, there is an appeals process though if the required
information is not readily forthcoming
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padrc66
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| posted on 9/2/23 at 08:18 AM |
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from the Act:
"Where a person makes a ‘request for information’ to a public authority, the authority’s general duty is to:
inform the applicant, in writing, whether it holds the information requested (referred to as the ‘duty to confirm or deny’); and
if it holds the information, communicate this to the applicant."
"Some exemptions are ‘absolute’ while others involve the application of a ‘public interest’ test to determine whether the public interest in
maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information"
it all depends who the authority is, many do publish requests, eg
HSE (there's an interesting one on there about the Top Gear jet car crash)
https://www.hse.gov.uk/foi/releases/index.htm
ONS
https://www.ons.gov.uk/aboutus/transparencyandgovernance/freedomofinformationfoi/publishedrequests
etc
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myke pocock
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| posted on 9/2/23 at 02:51 PM |
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To be honest this question refers to alleged requests to Forestry England regarding information on a motorsport competition we hold within forests.
Hardly appears to be a reason not to list the requests on their site.
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jps
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| posted on 10/2/23 at 11:54 AM |
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I think the point is the legislation is there to allow people to ask public bodies and get info back.
What you’re describing ( for them to keep a public facing register of all such requests/their responses) goes beyond that.
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Prof_Cook
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| posted on 11/2/23 at 08:56 PM |
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FOI Questions
While I believe a publicly published list of FOI requests (and their replies) is not mandated on Public Bodies, I suggest that an individual could ask
a Public Body for a copy of the FOI requests made to them (and the replies) for the last calendar year or another period, but personal information (ie
requesters details) would (should) not be released. Such a request would then reveal the content of all requests made to that public body. Some
public bodies do publish indexes to their FOIs on the web, for example https://www.penninecare.nhs.uk/foirequests/navigate/1722/4085 and then provide
copies of the questions (and their answers) but such indexes are hard to find.
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